Steven Desilets, Springfield's building commissioner, speaks with reporters following the gas explosion in downtown Springfield in November.Mark M. Murray / The Republican file

SPRINGFIELD – City department heads continued to raise concerns this week regarding a potential 10 percent cut in their budgets next fiscal year, including building commissioner Steven T. Desilets, saying that his staff inspections are critical as a matter of public health, safety and quality of life.

Desilets was among department heads and officials who have urged Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and his finance team to spare their departments from significant cuts during ongoing budget hearings. “We really are a life-safety department,” Desilets said, during a hearing this week at City Hall. “It is a skeleton crew.”

The city's code enforcement department, with budgets totaling $1.9 million, has five building inspectors and one vacancy, and five housing inspectors, and 10 more inspectors in plumbing, electrical, zoning, and weights and measures, he said. There is also his job, a deputy commissioner and four clerical employees, he said.

The inspections of housing and buildings range from emergency inspections for blighted and unsafe properties to regular inspections for building and housing projects to ensure compliance with codes and regulations, Desilets said. The inspections and related reports are critical for fire prevention and detection, to ensure structural safety and code compliance, he said.

Sarno, in response, said he knows that the department brings in significant revenues from building permit fees. Many fees increased last year with the understanding that the increases would help bring timely inspections on building projects.

Sarno, however, has asked departments to prepare budgets reflecting a 10 percent cut for the fiscal year beginning July 1 due to a continuing trend of increased costs and reduced revenues. In a letter this week to state legislative leaders, Sarno urged the Legislature to adopt a proposal by Gov. Deval L. Patrick to increase local aid and provide other relief.

Sarno said the city is facing a sixth consecutive year of “pared down” budgets in which the municipal work force, not including the schools, has shrunk from 1,589 employees to fewer than than 1,200. About 800 employees are with the police and fire divisions, he said.

Kevin E. Kennedy, the city’s chief development officer, who oversees various departments, including Planning and Economic Development, also spoke of the importance of his staff in its mission to promote economic development. Those projects, both small and large, bring in tax revenue, he said.

The planning and economic development annual budget is approximately $1.3 million, with 13 full-time employees.

Cuts to his staff would be “counterproductive to our mission, which is to increase economic development and tax revenue,” Kennedy said following the budget hearing.

Councilor Kateri B. Walsh, among councilors attending the meeting, said many residents believe there is a lot of “fat” to cut from the budget. In fact, potential budget cuts being discussed “would be cutting services people expect,” Walsh said.

Councilors John Lysak and Timothy Rooke also attended the budget hearings with Desilets and Kennedy, among other city department officials.

Beyond the effort to bring an estimated $800 million casino project to Springfield, Kennedy said his office has a wide range of projects ranging from plans to redevelop Union Station and the former Mason Square fire station to smaller projects. His office is also working on projects ranging from an increase in lighting downtown to efforts to bring a supermarket to the Mason Square area, he said.